The Hualapai Indian Reservation, which owns the so-called Skywalk, paid Aldrin to join its March 20 opening ceremony, according to a Las Vegas public relations firm working with the tribe. Hualapai Chairman Charlie Vaughn and astronaut John Herrington plan to meet him in the middle of the walkway.
3 comments:
Since Herrington has flown in space on the shuttle, he might say it reminds him of that, too.
Everybody has to get paid for something. You and I get paid to write, but that doesn't mean we're insincere about it.
I doubt Herrington was in it for the money. I don't think astronauits earn that much:
http://www.lrt.mw.tum.de/en/interessierte/raumfahrt_fuer_dummies.phtml
"This much is certain: astronauts have to be idealists. You cannot make a lot of money as an astronaut. A civilian joining NASA as a new astronaut, gets a gross salary of about $45,000 per year in the beginning (as at the end of 1996)."
http://www.careerprospects.org/briefs/A-D/Astronauts.shtml#earnings
"Astronauts earn standard government salaries ranging from about $65-101,000. Not a lot for what they do."
Also, Herrington apparently wasn't the first Native in space. He was the first tribally enrolled member in space, which isn't quite the same thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_astronauts_by_nationality
Bill Pogue, first launched November 16, 1973, as an inductee to the 5 Civilized Tribes Hall of Fame can lay claim to being the first Native American in space. ... John Herrington, an American citizen first launched November 24, 2002, is the first tribal registered Native American in space (Chickasaw).
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